Chapter 1:THE CV IN A SHOPRITE. Bag
I met Thato at Pretoria Taxi Rank.
Not like in movies.
No roses. No nice car. No pick-up lines.
He was standing in the rain. Holding a CV in a Shoprite plastic bag.
The bag was wet. The papers inside were wet.
His shoes... yoh. His shoes had a hole in front. You could see his sock.
He looked at me. "Sisi, please, where is HR in this building? I have interview at 11."
It was 10:45. He was lost.
I looked at his CV. It was good. Construction Management. He finished at TUT. No job for 2 years.
I had R6,200 in my Capitec account. That was my rent. My food. My cousin's school fees. My everything.
But I looked at that hole in his shoe and I felt something.
"Wait for me after 5," I said. "I finish work at 5."
He waited. 4 hours. In the rain.
After work I found him still there, sitting on the pavement, protecting that Shoprite bag.
I took him to Pep.
I bought him a shirt. R149.99. White shirt.
I bought him socks. R35 for 3 pairs.
I gave him R50 for taxi.
He cried. A man cried in front of me at Pep in Pretoria.
"Sisi, why are you helping me? You don't know me."
My name is Lerato. I am 24. I work as a receptionist. I have nothing. But I know what it feels like to have nothing and have people walk past you.
I said, "Because one day you will be big. And you will remember me."
He got the job. The next day.
He called me shouting. "Lerato! I got it! I got the job!"
We celebrated at Hungry Lion. We shared one piece of chicken. We were happy.
I didn't know I was building a man who would one day sit in his big office and tell me, "My family says you bewitched me. You pray so I only hear you."
I didn't know.
> Have you ever helped a man who later said you bewitched him? Comment "ME" below. Chapter 2 drops tomorrow.
